About Global Footprint Network
Our mission is to promote a sustainable economy by advancing the Ecological
Footprint, a measurement tool that makes the reality of planetary limits
relevant to decision-makers.

Scottish Government Adopts the Ecological Footprint as a Performance Measure

The Scottish Government announced this November that it will use the Ecological Footprint as one of its performance measures as part of its innovative National Performance Framework. The Framework provides a unified vision and quantifiable benchmarks against which the government’s priorities are measured.

One of Scottland’s goals is to “... reduce the local and global environmental impact of our consumption and production “and to ‘reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050’. The Local Footprints Project, a Global Footprint Network partner, has just issued a consumption based analysis of Scotland’s Carbon Footprint, based on its 32 local authorities.

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Scotland’s Economic Strategy, also released in November, included similar messages: despite declining rates of growth, Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions remain above the EU15 average, and its Footprint at 5.4 global hectares per person is well above the global average of 1.8 gha. It also highlights the value of Ecological Footprint accounting to indicate the country’s impact on the planet beyond just its carbon dioxide emissions.

These two documents represent a significant commitment by the Scottish Government to moving Scotland towards one planet lifestyles and reducing its environmental impact on the rest of the world.